Animal Testing Facts

It is sad that the self-proclaimed 'superior' in the animal kingdom should use products and medication at the expense of the death and abuse of lower species. It is important to stay updated on the facts about animal testing.

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There are live animal experiments authorized, and around the world, animals are now used as objects of experiments, to test a variety of products. The product range is as diverse as skin creams and shampoos to cancer prevention drugs and vaccines. In certain countries, the law specifies that a new drug should essentially be tested on at least two different species of live mammal, one of which must be a large non-rodent!

Even though the Animals Act specifies that there should be no animal experiments conducted if there is a realistic alternative, almost every medication in the market has been tested on animals. Animals have been used in the development of anesthetics to prevent human suffering during surgery!

The Extent of Damage Through Animal Testing
It is very important to be sensitive to the treatment meted out to these lower species. In fact, it is our power of discrimination and reasoning and sensitivity that actually makes us superior. It is disgusting to note that less than 2% of all human illnesses are on record in the animal kingdom, and yet we use them to find cures to self-inflicted illnesses that have been invited upon us with unhealthy and re-structured living and eating habits.

Research reveals that only 5 to 25% of the animal tests and human results are agreeable! Most of the drugs passed by animal tests are now discarded as useless to humans - then why test in the first place?

The conditions under which the animals are subjected to human experimentation have caused tumors in rodents, while the animal test results were declared to be of little relevance for humans! The only explanation being offered for this declaration is the fact that there are anatomical and physiological differences between animals and humans.

It is important to note that although animals are almost always used in cancer research, they never get the human form of cancer which affects membranes like the lungs. Almost 9% of the anesthetized animals in the laboratory die!

It is interesting to note that 83% of substances are metabolized differently by animals and humans.

Most medical experts agree that data from animal tests cannot be extrapolated safely to human patients.

In animal testing, while lemon juice, which is safe for humans, is a deadly poison - arsenic and botulin are safe.

Genetically modified animals cannot be models for human illness. A shocking fact revealed - 88% of still-births on record are caused by drugs that are passed as 'safe' in animal tests.

Out of the recorded number of deaths attributed to medical treatment via drugs passed post-animal testing, the truth is that majority cases were hospitalized due to faulty procedure adopted and wrong method of application.

40% human patients display side effects as a result of prescriptions and most of the medicines released post-animal testing, only a very small percentage is essential. A small percentage of fatal illnesses and a negligible percentage of organic based illness are caused by medications that have animal tested.

Contrary to the 'lifesaving' epithet used when referring to science and medicine, the operation for ectopic pregnancies was delayed due to vivisection!

It has been proved that the discovery of anesthetics has nothing to do with prior experiments on animals. In fact, the fluroxene has been universally recognized as a dramatic example of 'misleading evidence from animal data'.

While aspirin fails animal tests, insulin causes animal birth defects. Despite the global aplomb and Nobel prizes to dedicated vivisectors, less than half of them agree that animal experiments are crucial.

An interesting as well as an utterly gross fact to be digested, is that an estimated 103,800 animals are not administered with any medication to cease partially or completely, the pain caused due to animal testing. The pain by no means is minimal. The procedure being conducted on the animal may be extremely painful. When humans are petrified at the proposal of getting 'poked' by a medical practitioner, wonder what happens to animals at the idea of being tested upon?

An animal is used for the conduction of not more than one experiment, however there are several instances when a number of tests are conducted on the same animal without any anesthetic aid. Unfortunately, and without doubt, these animals have to be euthanized at the end of the scientific procedure.

Most animals are packed in a cage-like environment to execute the experiment. In a world where humans are entitled to practice their right to freedom and independent living, it is saddening that animals are at the lab assistant's and the tester's mercy.

The world of science has on record more than 400 methods that can effectively replace animal experiments. It is important to consider the options since at least thirty-three animals die in laboratories each second worldwide. There is no doubt that medical progress can be achieved without abusing animals.